Multimedia memory game

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method of playing and configuring a multimedia memory game; to a computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for carrying out the steps of a method of playing and configuring a multimedia memory game; to a mobile device; to an electronic data carrier; and to a multimedia memory game comprising a mobile device, a first electronic data carrier and a second electronic data carrier. During a turn of the game, the content stored on the first electronic data carrier is read and the content stored on the second electronic data carrier is read. Then it is verified whether the first content and the second content satisfy a predetermined associative relationship. Only if the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship, it is concluded that the turn is successful. The predetermined associative relationship may be preconfigured or configured by a user.

This application claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of European patent application no. 11290263.0, filed on Jun. 8, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The so-called memory game is a popular game which appeals to the short-term human memory. The memory game can be played by at least two players. Basically, the aim of the memory game is to find matching pairs of substantially equal pictures which are printed on cards. The player who finds the highest amount of matching pairs wins the game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

More specifically, the game is played as follows. Initially the cards are placed in a two-dimensional array on a surface, for example, on a table or a desk. All cards are face down, so that all pictures are hidden from sight. During a turn, a player uncovers two pictures by turning two cards face up. If the pictures are the same, i.e. if the cards contain a matching pair, the turn is successful. If the pictures are not the same, the turn is unsuccessful and the player turns the two cards face down again. The position of the pictures in the array has to be remembered by the players in order to increase the probability that their next turn will be successful. If a player's turn is successful, he earns a point and removes the two cards from the array. The player who uncovers the highest amount of matching pairs earns the highest amount of points and wins the game.

In general, conventional card-based memory games typically only present visual information to the user, for example pictures. Furthermore, they typically contain only a limited number of printed items on the cards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention, a method of playing a multimedia memory game using electronic data carriers is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the appended FIGs., in which:

FIG. 1 shows a conventional card-based memory game;

FIG. 2 shows a multimedia memory game according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the first content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the second content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the first content and/or the second content comprises user-defined content.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the electronic data carriers are NFC tags.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the predetermined associative relationship is determined by a user before the start of the game.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, upon concluding that the turn is successful, a point is awarded, and the multimedia memory game is played by repeating turns until a predetermined amount of points has been awarded.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, a non-transitory computer program product is provided which comprises computer-executable instructions for carrying out the steps of a method of the kind set forth.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, a multimedia memory game is provided which comprises a mobile device and a set of electronic data carriers, wherein the mobile device is arranged to perform the following operations during a turn of the game: read first content stored on a first electronic data carrier of the set; read second content stored on a second electronic data carrier of the set; verify whether the first content and the second content satisfy a predetermined associative relationship; and conclude that the turn is successful only if the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the first content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the second content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the first content and/or the second content comprises user-defined content.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the electronic data carriers are NFC tags.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the predetermined associative relationship is determined by a user before the start of the game.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the mobile device is further arranged to play the game by awarding a point upon concluding that a turn is successful and by repeating turns until a predetermined amount of points has been awarded.

In an embodiment of the multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention, the first content comprises a first identifier value which identifies the first electronic data carrier, and the second content comprises a second identifier value which identifies the second electronic data carrier; the mobile device comprises a memory unit for storing first data content corresponding to the first identifier value and second data content corresponding to the second identifier value; the mobile device is further arranged to retrieve the first identifier value from the first electronic data carrier and the second identifier value from the second electronic data carrier and to match the first identifier value to the first data content and the second identifier value to the second data content; and the mobile device is further arranged to verify whether the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship by verifying whether the first data content and the second data content satisfy said predetermined associative relationship.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional card-based memory game. In this example, the card-based memory game consists of 16 cards on which matching pairs of pictures have been printed. A first card 100, which contains a picture of a sun, has a fixed associative relationship 104 with a second card 102, which contains the same picture. A third card 106, which contains a picture of a moon, has a fixed associative relationship 110 with a fourth card 108, which contains the same picture. In general, conventional card-based memory games only present visual information to the user, for example pictures, and they contain only a limited number of printed items on the cards.

FIG. 2 shows a multimedia memory game in accordance with the invention. The multimedia memory game 200 comprises a set of electronic data carriers 202, 204, 206, 208 and a mobile device 216. In this example, the electronic data carriers 202, 204, 206, 208 are NFC tags. Although only four electronic data carriers have been shown, the multimedia memory game 200 may contain a plurality of electronic data carriers. Passive NFC tags, for example, are relatively cheap devices which can be obtained from public vendors, and therefore they are particularly suitable for this purpose.

The mobile device 216 comprises a processing unit 218 and a memory unit 220. The mobile device 216 is wirelessly connectable to a first electronic data carrier of the set 202 via a near field communication link 212. Furthermore, the mobile device 216 is wirelessly connectable to a second electronic data carrier of the set 204 via another near field communication link 214. The mobile device 216 is also wirelessly connectable to other electronic data carriers 206, 208 via further near field communication links (not shown). A non-transitory computer program product, for example a downloadable game application, may be stored in a memory unit 220 of the mobile device 216. The mobile device 216 also contains a processing unit 218 for executing the game application.

The content stored on the first electronic data carrier 202 has a predetermined associative relationship 210 with the content stored on the second electronic data carrier 204. In this example, the first electronic data carrier 202 contains a drawing of a sun, which has a predetermined associative relationship 210 with a computer-executable sound file “SUNSHINE-REGGAE.SND” stored on the second electronic data carrier 204.

The predetermined associative relationship 210 may be preconfigured in the game application. For example, in case of a commercial game a user could buy a set of NFC tags in a shop and then download an application wherein the associative relationships between the contents stored on said NFC tags are preconfigured. It is also possible to provide different sets of NFC tags for different games involving different types of associative relationships. Alternatively, a single set of NFC tags may be provided for different game applications. Optionally, in an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the predetermined associative relationship 210 may be determined by a user before the start of the game and then configured in the game application. This may be implemented as follows. The user will present the first electronic data carrier 202 to the mobile device 216. Then, the user will be asked to assign content to the first electronic data carrier 202, for example said drawing of the sun. Subsequently, the user will present the second electronic data carrier 204 to the mobile device 216. The user will be asked to assign content to the second electronic data carrier 204, for example said computer-executable sound file. By presenting the second electronic data carrier 204 after the first electronic data carrier 202 to the mobile device 216 the associative relationship 210 is automatically established and stored in the mobile device 216.

It is noted that the actual data content of the electronic data carriers 202, 204 may also reside in the memory unit 220 of the mobile device 216. In that case, the content stored on the electronic data carriers 202, 204 may be limited to, for example, identifier values which identify the respective data carriers. The mobile device 216 may be arranged to retrieve said identifier values and use them as references to the actual data content stored in its memory unit 220 and corresponding to the respective electronic data carriers 202, 204. Then, the step of verifying whether the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship may be implemented as retrieving the identifier values and subsequently verifying whether the respective data contents referred to by said identifier values satisfy said relationship.

There are many examples of associative relationships. For instance, two identical or similar drawings or photographs may be paired. Also, two identical or different colors may be paired or two identical or different words. An example of the latter is a tool for learning synonyms. Furthermore, photos may be associated with text, for example photos of family members with names of these family members. The names of the family members may be composed of written text or sound, i.e. spoken text. Thus, the memory game is customizable to a large extent. Another example of an educational game is a tool for helping children to read by pairing written words to the corresponding spoken words. Pictures of objects, such as vehicles, may be associated with a corresponding sound, such as the corresponding engine noise.

In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the multimedia memory game is also very useful for visually impaired people, because it allows to associate sounds with vibrations. In case the mobile device is a phone, a number of beeps may be associated to a number of vibrations of the phone. Also, a sound with a given duration may be associated with a vibration of the same duration.

Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to associative relationships between only two instances of contents. The invention allows for an extension to associative relationships between three or more instances of contents.

The game may be started upon request of a user, for example via a graphical user interface comprised in the game application, in an embodiment in accordance with the invention. Optionally, the game application may be launched automatically when the mobile device 216 touches, or moves into close proximity of, one of the electronic data carriers 202, 204, 206, 208. Alternatively, the game may be started by shaking the mobile device if the device is equipped with an accelerometer, for example.

The electronic data carriers 202, 204, 206, 208 may be placed on a table and they may remain in the same place for a next game, because new associative relationships may be established for a given set of electronic data carriers. In other words, the electronic data carriers 202, 204, 206, 208 need not be reshuffled for the next game.

The skilled person will appreciate that each player may use his own mobile device to participate in the multimedia memory game 200. In that case, the game will be extended with more mobile devices. Each mobile device will interact with the electronic data carriers 202, 204, 206, 208. Also, each mobile device will be equipped with a game application of the kind set forth. In addition, the game application may be configured on a first mobile device and subsequently copied to other mobile devices by means of peer-to-peer data exchange. Furthermore, game application variants could be downloaded from an application store, for example.

During a turn of the game, the content stored on the first electronic data carrier 202 is read and the content stored on the second electronic data carrier 204 is read. Then it is verified whether the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship 210. Only if the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship 210, it is concluded that the turn is successful. In this example, it is verified whether the drawing of the sun stored on the first electronic data carrier 202 has a predetermined associative relationship 210 with the sound file “SUNSHINE-REGGAE.SND” stored on the second electronic data carrier 204. If this relationship indeed exists, it is concluded that the turn is successful. Upon concluding that a turn is successful a point may be awarded to the player. The game may continue, for example, until one of the players has been awarded a given amount of points. In this way, a very flexible and user-friendly multimedia memory game can be realized.

The above-mentioned embodiments in accordance with the invention, illustrate rather than limit the invention, and the skilled person will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference sign placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word “comprise(s)” or “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements and/or by means of a suitably programmed processor. In a device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   100 first card -   102 second card -   104 first association -   106 third card -   108 fourth card -   110 second association -   200 multimedia memory game -   202 first electronic data carrier -   204 second electronic data carrier -   206 further electronic data carrier -   208 further electronic data carrier -   210 predetermined associative relationship -   212 first read/write connection -   214 second read/write connection -   216 mobile device -   218 processing unit -   220 memory unit 

1. A method of playing a multimedia memory game comprising a set of electronic data carriers, wherein a turn of the game comprises: reading first content stored on a first electronic data carrier of the set; reading second content stored on a second electronic data carrier of the set; verifying whether the first content and the second content satisfy a predetermined associative relationship; and only if the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship, concluding that the turn is successful.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first content and the second content comprise user-defined content.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic data carriers are NFC tags or RFID tags.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined associative relationship is determined by a user before the start of the game.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein, upon concluding that the turn is successful, a point is awarded, and wherein the multimedia memory game is played by repeating turns until a predetermined amount of points has been awarded.
 8. A non-transitory computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for carrying out the steps of a method as claimed in claim
 1. 9. A multimedia memory game comprising a mobile device and a set of electronic data carriers, wherein the mobile device is arranged to perform the following operations during a turn of the game: read first content stored on a first electronic data carrier of the set; read second content stored on a second electronic data carrier of the set; verify whether the first content and the second content satisfy a predetermined associative relationship; and conclude that the turn is successful only if the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship.
 10. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.
 11. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second content comprises at least one of the following content types: text, drawing, photo, video, sound, color, vibration.
 12. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first content and/or the second content comprises user-defined content.
 13. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the electronic data carriers are NFC tags or RFID tags.
 14. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the predetermined associative relationship is determined by a user before the start of the game.
 15. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the mobile device is further arranged to play the game by awarding a point upon concluding that a turn is successful and by repeating turns until a predetermined amount of points has been awarded.
 16. A multimedia memory game as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first content comprises a first identifier value which identifies the first electronic data carrier, and the second content comprises a second identifier value which identifies the second electronic data carrier; wherein the mobile device comprises a memory unit for storing first data content corresponding to the first identifier value and second data content corresponding to the second identifier value; wherein the mobile device is further arranged to retrieve the first identifier value from the first electronic data carrier and the second identifier value from the second electronic data carrier and to match the first identifier value to the first data content and the second identifier value to the second data content; and wherein the mobile device is further arranged to verify whether the first content and the second content satisfy the predetermined associative relationship by verifying whether the first data content and the second data content satisfy said predetermined associative relationship. 